MANILA, Philippines — Kai Sotto is on the right track to his NBA dream with his recent commitment to the NBA G League.
But if his G League coach Brian Shaw is to be asked, Sotto won't be on a high-level and NBA-ready overnight.
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Speaking to the Philippine media on Thursday morning, Shaw explained that Sotto's development at this stage will take a little more time.
"Kai is young, and a lot of times, when you grow that fast in such a young age, it takes a little bit more time to get your body and your strength and get a foundation to catch up with you," Shaw said.
Shaw likened his expectations on Sotto's development to former Los Angeles Lakers big man Andrew Bynum, whom the former coached in his early days as a mentor.
"One of the players I've coached, he was at the time the youngest player to ever come into the NBA, was Andrew Bynum with the Lakers. He was a young big guy who eventually became very, very good, but it didn't happen overnight," Shaw said.
"So I think if Kai puts in the work, obviously he's gotta spend a lot of time in the weight room getting stronger with our strength and conditioning coach, I think he has the aptitude to play the game and has high basketball IQ... It's just a matter of putting in that work every day, during games, putting everything at game speed," he added.
Once Shaw gets to handle Sotto in the G League select team, the three-time NBA champion hopes to develop him in the same way he had Bynum and fellow Laker Pau Gasol.
"I think with the work we'd be putting in every day, some of the things I'll be able to share with him and chart his progress like I did with a young Andrew Bynum or a young Pau Gasol — I even played with Shaq when he was young — they got better and better as time went on, so I don't see how it'll be any different with Kai," he said.